The Adventures of Allison C. Meier, a Wandering Writer from Oklahoma

Candle Light

A Philip Lumbang bear in the East Village.

Another weekend reached and another snowstorm has hit New York. Except this snowstorm is slightly less charming that the previous ones, as there was a whole day of slushy rain before the snow so now there are deep, icy puddles around all the curbs, hidden by deceptively shallow-looking water. I mainly worked and watched the Olympics this week, and ordered a souvenir Quatchi because I rarely buy myself anything and it’s a Sasquatch wearing earmuffs!!

Candle light (books are my roommate's).

This Thursday, I came back from work to find the power out in my apartment. Outside, there were electrical workers in hazmat suits and several firetrucks on the street. The manhole cover was open and there was yellow tape surrounding it. It was snowing and freezing cold outside, but I decided I would go grocery shopping and come back, hoping the power when then be on. It was not. So my roommate and I lit candles in the living room. It got to around 11 pm and the power was still off, so I decided I would just go to sleep. (I had already failed to read with a flashlight, apparently I can’t survive in a world without electricity.) I don’t know when the power came back on, but I woke up at 3 am with the lights on.

Snow on Fourth Avenue.

There were several inches of snow on the street yesterday morning, and more snow continued to fall throughout the day. The $10 I spent on waterproof boots was one of my best purchases since coming to New York.

Narrow trail through the snow.

I guess it was a rather slow week, because aside from the snow, not much worth blogging happened. I did watch Paranormal Activity with Arya, although it was much less scary than I was hoping. The alternative ending was the most disturbing, but otherwise it seemed like a mild episode of Ghosthunters. This was accompanied by some wine from Orange, France, which I brought purely due to my memories of Provence. There was also a bottle of wine from Tain l’Hermitage that was on sale, which almost made me cry with nostalgia for the town’s delicious chocolate and hills of vineyards.

Snow on some street objects.

I’ve gotten back into Pandora, the online radio music genome, after being away from it for a couple of years. I have a few stations that I listen to while working. Sadly, my music tastes seem to be easy to predict, as my Mountain Goats, Jeffrey Lewis, Rogue Wave, Destroyer, and Flaming Lips stations all sound almost exactly the same. And it correctly added the Weakerthans, Radical Face, Frightened Rabbit, and even more obscure artists like Noise Addict. Often my music gets the “distinctive male vocal” description (all those off-key singers I love), “mixed acoustic and electric instrumentation,” “extensive vamping,” “intricate melodic phrasing,” and “acoustic sonority.”

Cooper Square in snow.

The coming week should be interesting, and I’m very excited to be seeing Rogue Wave again, this time at the Bowery Ballroom. Last time I saw them was at the Opolis in Norman, a really intimate venue that is dead silent when the band plays. People whisper during songs and listened to “Eyes” with as much reverence as I’ve ever seen at a concert. It will be interesting to hear their new music, which is more dancey.

Winter weather hits Union Square.

Earlier in the week, I stopped by the Housing Works bookstore and found a copy of Kafka’s The Trial for just 50 cents. We’ll see if I make it through that. I saw someone reading it in a falafel place in Williamsburg, although that could have just been for looks. Who knows, people probably think that about me when I’m reading Dostoevsky or Joseph Conrad on the subway. But I guess I like to pick complicated books when I’m stuck underground, because I’m forced to read them.

Giant snowmen in Union Square.

While walking in Union Square, I saw quite a few great snowmen and a some snowfights. And kids banging on a pile of snow with sticks, but kids are strange like that. The best snowmen by far where these two giant ones this group of people built. And one was wearing a stylish bow tie. It puts my snowmen building skills to shame.

Roof cat in the snow.

It seems that the roof across from me has turned into an ice rink, but the cats are still out carefully walking through the snow. I accidentally set off the fire detector this morning when trying to make pumpkin pancakes, but luckily my roommate is in Puerto Rico so I guess I only annoyed my neighbors. There may be more snow today. Apparently Central Park has received more snow this month than any other month of the past 114 years. There has to be a lot of snowmen there.

Related

One thought on “Candle Light”

Cool to see you’re keeping the Rogue Wave flame goin. Also the Gazette beat cross country style. Living a life surrounded by art is something I commend any one in doing, and it looks like you’re doing it well.